Wonderful Life
by sleepy-emo
Summary: On a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night Claire Bennett met the man of her dreams...and her nightmares. One shot songfic of the same name by Hurts


**Sorry it's been so long guys, it's been a really hectic year :/ anyway here's a little taste to get back into it all :) S-E**

On a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night Claire Bennett met the man of her dreams...and her nightmares. It had been three hundred years since she had last seen him but his appearance hadn't changed on little bit, much like her own. He still looked like he was in his late twenties and she still looked like a high school senior.

After Claire had exposed those with powers all those years ago the world had accepted them as heroes but after some kid called Roxie, who could walk through walls, waltzed into the White House and murdered the President they had to go back into hiding again. Claire had tried living the peaceful, normal life – life each of her fathers had always wanted her to – but as the years grew on and it became apparent to the neighbours that she wasn't getting any older she had to leave each place she called home. After her parents died she had stayed with her brother until, finally, he passed on as well. Claire had then got to live with her uncle but after his wife, Emma, died Peter no longer wanted the regeneration power and allowed himself to decay into old age and death.

Now Claire was alone. After his death she had been jealous of Peter; he had the choice of giving up immortality, she did not have that luxury. She had spent the last two and a half centuries wandering the world, seeing everything that it had to offer and trying many new things along the way. It was only after being run out of a small African village, where her power was thought of as witchcraft, did she make her way to England. Claire had always dreamed of living in England, after an brief affair with an Englishman who had made the country sound so enticing.

She had only been in the country a few weeks, deciding to make her way from one side to the other starting in the west, when she found herself running into the first familiar face she had seen in a long time. Ever since the death of her last family member she had thought about him; tracking him down, talking to him, being with him. Revenge had left Claire's mind a long time ago – an eternity of effective solitude does tend to make one forgiving towards someone in the same position, even if they did used to kill people – now all she wanted was a companion.

He was standing on the railing of the bridge, looking out over the water. A rope was tied around one of his ankles, a large concrete block tied to the other end. He was shaking all over and Claire could hear him muttering something that sounded like a prayer for forgiveness. So this is what the poor man had been reduced to; three hundred years of fighting the devil inside and futile attempts at suicide. The more she watched him in his private praying the more she felt for him.

Part of her felt sorry for him, part of her felt something other than pity. She remembered his strong arms, his toned torso, his beautiful face – despite the fact that his image had invaded her nightmares on many occasions she could not deny how attractive he was. His strong jaw, his perfect lips and his penetrating eyes had also invaded Claire's dreams on many occasions. In her darker moments she had wondered what it would be like to be truly overpowered by him; to feel his lips claiming hers, to run her hands over the muscles of his chest and totally surrender to his will.

"Sylar." Claire said, shutting out the images in her mind. No matter what was going on in her head, what was going on in his was much more important if he was standing on a bridge readying himself to plunge to a life of darkness at the bottom of a river.

"Hello Claire-Bear." he replied without looking round, using the nickname Noah had given her and that he had used on many occasions while mentally torturing her. "How long have you been standing there?"

"I think you know the answer to that." she replied. He had heard someone approaching (the power he had stolen from a car mechanic allowed him to do that) and when he didn't hear them leave he must have assumed that the person had been watching him. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he countered, chuckling slightly. After all this time had he finally snapped and stopped fighting? No he wouldn't be trying to end his life if that part of his brain was now in control.

"Yes." Claire replied. "And no." She would have assumed that he would have given up trying to end his own life long before now, or he would have jammed something in the 'off-switch' they both possessed. But then again, she thought to herself, coroners have a nasty habit of removing alien objects from dead bodies.

"If you must know I got in trouble," he told her, still refusing to turn and look at her. "and, if you don't mind, I don't want the company."

"What kind of trouble?" Claire asked, ignoring the fact that he wanted her to leave.

"I stopped fighting him." he stated. "Only for a second but I stopped fighting."

"What happened?" She was almost afraid of the answer but the longer she kept him talking the less likely he was to jump.

"He took over, he went on a rampage after being caged for so long. Found the nearest group of people he could and massacred them." he chocked, the pain in his voice evident as he recounted the events.

"The bus-load of school children." Claire said quietly. She had read about it in a newspaper two years ago; a bus full of school kids (only about seven or eight years old) had been slaughtered in Northern Ireland each of them with the tops of their skulls removed, the killer had not been found. She had known who was responsible though.

"Yes." he stated. Claire felt nausea bubbling up inside her, that was a new low even for the man who had killed so many before, but not hatred. At least not hatred for the broken man standing on the bridge.

"Is that how you ended up in Bristol?"

"Yes. I've been living in solitude for the last couple of years devising the perfect way to..."

"To kill yourself." she finished, he nodded.

"If I jump I won't drown, not even with the concrete dragging me down to the bottom. If I hit my 'off-switch' they'll take out whatever I jam in it when they find my body. So I do both, then by the time they find me I'll be beyond saving." he said and finally turned to face her. Claire looked up into his face, his skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot. She could feel tears beginning to brim in her own eyes as she looked at the man who had once tried to kill everyone she knew and loved.

"You don't deserve this." she whispered, looking down at the pavement to hide her tears from him. She needn't have bothered as she suddenly felt cold rain hitting her skin.

"I know I don't but what choice do I have?" he asked. "Death is too easy a fate but if I don't end it, if I just spent the rest of eternity under the water, someone might find me. Then I'll be bought back to the rest of the world and it might happen again. He might get loose and kill again. My only option is to finish it and may the Lord have mercy on my soul."

"When did you find religion?" she asked, surprised, looking up at him again.

"Singapore 2132." he stated. "I thought it could help me control him and lead a normal life but, it turns out, even God doesn't think I'm worth saving." Tears began spilling down Claire's cheeks as a sudden realisation hit her

"I do." she whispered.

"What?"

"Think you're worth saving."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I need you." she told him and allowed the wave of sorrow to crash over her. "I have watched everyone I ever cared about wither and die. You're the only person I have left and I can't loose you too." As she continued to cry he untied the rope around his ankle and jumped down onto the pavement next to her. He put his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. His strong arms, that had once pinned her down as he cut off the top of her head, now made her feel safe like nothing in the world would ever hurt her again.

"Claire, I can't be around people." he told her. "If I stop fighting him, even for a second, he could take over and kill again."

"Then we'll leave." she said looking up into his bloodshot eyes, seeing tears beginning to form. "We can find somewhere away from everyone and if he ever does come out the only one he can hurt is me. Just, please, don't leave me alone."

"I can't let him hurt you Claire, I can't put you through that pain." he chocked as tears began to trickle down his beautiful face.

"I can't feel pain." she cried. "not physical pain, anyway. The only pain you can put me through is if you go ahead with this and leave me to spend the rest of my life alone." Longing suddenly overcame her and, standing up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. The kiss shocked him at first but as Claire wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening it, he pulled her closer and tangled one of his hands in her soft blonde hair. Still with her lips attached to his she threw him at the wall, her kisses burning like fire, and suddenly he started to believe the depth of her feelings for him.

"Don't let go." she whispered as they parted for air.

"What?" he panted, unsure of what she meant.

"Never give up, it's such a wonderful life."

"Not for me, it isn't." he replied.

"I could make it wonderful, Gabriel." Claire said, biting her lip slightly. She looked so beautiful he had to stop himself from switching their position, slamming her against the wall and kissing her heatedly again. He gazed deep into her eyes and saw what their future together could be like; she wouldn't have to be alone and he wouldn't have to live in fear of what was inside him. The pair shared a look in silence and everything was understood.

"Ok." he replied. "Show me how wonderful life can be." He bent down and kissed her lips again and, for the first time in three hundred years, Claire Bennett didn't feel alone anymore.


End file.
